


Exposure

by 00AwkwardPenguin00



Series: Dragon of the Yuyan [21]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: (need to think of an in-universe name for it), Episode: s02e09 Bitter Work, Gen, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Let Toph Say Fuck 2020, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, Zuko (Avatar) Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Zuko is a firebending master, Zuko is the worst patient, and Toph is an earthbending master, and Toph kicking butt, commiserating about shitty families, finding yourself through getting your ass kicked by a twelve year old, i don't make the rules, lots of talking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:47:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25789057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00AwkwardPenguin00/pseuds/00AwkwardPenguin00
Summary: In the aftermath of Azula, Zuko learns some stuff
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: Dragon of the Yuyan [21]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582384
Comments: 369
Kudos: 3020
Collections: Finished111





	Exposure

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts).



Zuko wakes up in a canyon, tucked into his bedroll. His shirt is gone, and he's lying on his stomach, which honestly, _not_ super comfortable. He tries to shift a little bit, and bites back a whine at the fire that zings across the middle of his back. Fuck, that _hurts._ Not as bad as Ozai's damned fire lashes, and certainly not nearly as bad as the fucking burn on his face when it was healing, but certainly worse than anything he's had recently.

"Zuko!" Katara's voice yips, and she suddenly _appears_ in front of him, and Zuko can only blame the way he jumps and the yelp he chokes down on his residual grogginess.

"Sorry, sorry, I shouldn't have startled you like that, sorry," Katara murmurs, peeling back the top of his bedroll and undoing the bandages wrapped around his middle. She balls them up and tosses them aside without a care, her focus entirely on whatever wound Azula's strike inflicted. She doesn't poke at it, thank Agni, but her brow is furrowed and her eyes intent, and Zuko's kind of surprised that he's getting any medical attention at all, considering the tea Azula spilled.

Katara gloves her hands in glowing water, and gently lays them over the middle of Zuko's back. He sighs silently as the cool water washes away the pain, and feels his body relax.

"I managed to reduce the damage, and I can heal it so you'll have full range of motion, but it's going to scar pretty badly," she says finally, as she bends the water away and starts rebandaging the wound.

Zuko slowly, stiffly brings his hand up to his mouth and tips his fingers toward her. Katara smiles gently and strokes back his hair, fingertips just skimming the top edge of the scar on his face.

"You're family, Zuko, you don't have to thank me," she tells him softly, and the relief must be stark on his face because her expression falls and her eyes go huge for a moment. Then her brow furrows again, her shoulders set, and she looks like a stubborn child determined to have her way. "You _are_ our family. You're the first boy Sokka's age he's had a chance to _connect_ with, and both Aang and Sokka look up to you _so much_. You understood what Toph needed, when the rest of us couldn't, and I think you're the first person she really feels _safe_ to be with. And… you taught me so much, about how the element you bend doesn't define your beliefs and shouldn’t define how you treat someone. You keep us safe, and teach us, and Zuko, we would be so, so _lost_ without you." Her smile is wobbly, but sincere, and she gently places her hand on his cheek, her thumb brushing the lower edge of his scar. "It's amazing how someone like you could come from someone like _him._ "

The relief crashes over him at her acceptance, and he can't help the tears that slip from his eyes. Katara presses her forehead to his temple, gently, and holds his hand as he shakes.

Eventually the storm ends, and Zuko can do nothing but lie there limp and exhausted. Katara pecks him a kiss on the temple and sits back on her heels.

"I've got some jook on the fire if you're hungry," she says. "Just say the word and I can dump as much of your nasty fire-chili powder in it as you want." Her smile is much steadier now, and one corner of her mouth crooks up higher than the other in a lopsided, unpracticed smirk. Zuko smiles as well, a bright teasing grin, then plasters the most pleading expression he can muster on his face and gingerly rubs his flat hand on as much of his chest as he can turn before his back protests.

Katara laughs. "Okay you big baby, coming right up. Now lie down before you undo all of my hard work."

In moments, Zuko is propped up on his elbows with a bowl of red-dyed jook between his hands, the soreness in his back a distant irritant as he shovels down the food. He idly wonders where the others are, but he doesn't have to wonder for long.

Sokka wanders over, machete slung over his shoulder and a pelt-bag in the other hand, the result of a successful hunting trip. He does a doubletake when he sees Zuko, and the biggest grin spreads across his face.

"Hey buddy! Nice to see you back among the living!" He crows, handing the bag off to Katara and bounding over to drop into a cross-legged sit in front of Zuko. His grin fades as his gaze slips to Zuko's exposed, bandaged back, and then he drags his eyes back to Zuko's. "Listen, man, what you did? Back there? That was…" He looks so uncomfortable, and Zuko's a little uncomfortable listening to him, but he knows that Sokka needs to get it out. "Thanks," he blurts out finally. "I was gonna be roast fish for sure if you hadn't pushed me out of the way. And man… I'm sorry Azula said what she did. If my family was that messed up, I wouldn't want anything to do with them either. You should've been able to tell us when _you_ wanted to, not because someone wanted to hurt you."

Oh, fuck, Zuko's gonna cry again. He hurriedly signs **_Thank you_** , reaches out and grips Sokka's arm, then buries himself back in his breakfast. Sokka chuckles and ruffles his hair.

"You're such an awkward turtleduck," he says. "Fair warning, Toph's starting Aang on earthbending today. They're further down in the canyon, Katara basically threatened to eviscerate them with ice-knives if they did anything around here with you like this."

Zuko feels kind of pathetically grateful that he's not going to be subjected to the sounds of earthbending while he's so vulnerable, and it makes a warm feeling in his chest different from his inner flame to know that his friends understand him so well, even without him having to explain anything.

He finishes his breakfast and dozes to the sound of Sokka rambling about the local fauna that he wants to try to hunt. He's not going to _sleep_ , not while the sun is out in all of Agni's glory, but he manages to actually get some rest if he focuses on Sokka's voice instead of the energy of the sun coursing through him.

Katara brings him snacks and water every couple of hours and uses his distraction to change his bandages and check on his healing progress. He definitely looks forward to the cooling sensation her healing water brings, and as the day progresses, the soreness in his back slowly eases. He's not going to be laying on his back or putting any kind of pressure on the wound any time soon, but at least shifting his weight doesn't leave him whimpering in pain by the time the evening begins.

Aang and Toph return to the campsite covered in dirt and dust. Aang looks a little downcast, but immediately lights up when he sees that Zuko's awake.

"Zuko!" He calls out, bounding over in great airbending-assisted jumps. He settles on his knees next to Zuko's head, and places a hand on his shoulder. "How're you feeling, Sifu Hotman?" His charcoal eyes are wide with concern.

Zuko smiles, and reaches up to poke Aang in the middle of his arrow. The kid giggles as Toph stomps over.

"Sparky, I gotta bone to pick with you!" She barks out, and Zuko feels his smile spread into a grin. She shoves Aang out of the way, and he goes with a small grunt and makes hurt eyes at her that are utterly ineffective. Zuko snickers at him as she plants herself into a crossed-legged sit in front of him, planting her hands on her knees and leaning forward. Everything about her stance and her expression is aggressive, but even flat on his belly in the most vulnerable position he can think of, Zuko's not scared. He could never be scared of Toph.

"What the fuck was up with that shit yesterday?" Toph demands. "According to Twinkletoes and everyone, you're a spirits-damned _Master Firebender_ , and you couldn't think of a better way to defend Sokka against a puny little fireblast than just _jumping the fuck in front of it?!"_

_T.I.R.E.D_ , Zuko taps out slowly. _S.C.A.R.E.D. N.O.T T.H.I.N.K.I.N.G._

"No, you fucking weren't, charcoal-for-brains!" Toph yells.

_S.O.R.R.Y F.O.R S.C.A.R.I.N.G Y.O.U_ , Zuko taps out.

Toph huffs, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest. "You fucking better be, Sparky, I need you to help me not murder all these dumbasses," she pouts. "You know Sweetness over there tried to tell me to be _nice_ to Twinkletoes? Earthbending isn't _nice_ , you don't smash a rock by being _fucking nice!"_

She proceeds to complain loudly and long about all of Aang's sins as an earthbending student, and Zuko can't help the dopey smile on his face as he leans his head on his arms and listens. He'd missed this.

As the sun sets, Zuko's energy wanes, and he's falling asleep into the stew Katara's placed in front of him to distract him from his last healing of the day. Toph keeps him awake by telling him dirty jokes (half the time he's laughing more at Katara's scandalized gasps and huffs than at the jokes themselves) until the bowl is empty.

"Go to sleep, dumbass," the earthbender orders, settling herself gently against his shoulder, and he happily does.

The next morning he wakes up feeling _much_ better already, and after breakfast and a healing session with Katara, the waterbender allows him to sit up. When that doesn’t cause more than some soreness accompanied by twinges of pain when he tries to twist, she helps him stand up and slowly walk around the campsite.

Now that he's not napping all day, he can hear the sounds of crashing and falling rock that herald earthbending. It's distant enough that he doesn't feel like he's in immediate danger, but it still puts him on edge. It’s so stupid, he _knows_ that Toph wouldn’t hurt him or anyone else who didn’t deserve it, but every time he hears the sounds of earthbending he feels like he’s back at Huzhen, watching Hwan and his comrades being buried and crushed alive over and over again. It’s _maddening_ , and he wants it to stop.

So after Aang returns, covered in dirt and tired from another long day of trying to earthbend, Zuko sneaks off and follows his ears to where Toph is doing her own practice. He finds a sheltered overlook and settles in, firmly focusing on the small green and beige figure below. He flinches with every crash of boulders, but he finds the impulse lessening the longer he stays.

The fear slowly fades, and is replaced with the trained curiosity of a Master Bender. He watches how she moves, and how solidly rooted she is—she very, very rarely takes more than one foot off the ground at a time, and when she does she returns to her root as fast as she can. There’s an economy of movement in her bending forms that Zuko recognizes from the few times he’s seen Earth Army soldiers bend, but it seems like Toph, in her self-education, has taken this characteristic to the extreme. Not one single movement is wasted. It's amazing to watch, and Zuko can't peel his eyes away.

“I know you’re there, Sparky!”

Zuko jumps as Toph’s voice shatters the light meditative state he’d fallen into while watching her. She’s still in the gorge, arms at her sides, just waiting. She looks like she could wait all day.

Zuko slides down the wall of the gorge and jogs over to her. She turns her face in his general direction and the grin that is plastered upon it sends chills down his spine.

"Enjoying the show, Sparky?" She asks gleefully. Zuko takes out his dagger and kneels down.

_Y.E.S_ , he taps out. _A.W.E.S.O.M.E._

"Wanna spar?"

This gives Zuko pause. He's never actually fought an earthbender, bending to bending, before. He came close at the Earth Rumble, when Fire Nation Man came on stage, and the complete _offense_ the fucker had inspired had nearly caused him to go into a feral rage (being underground and bombarded with the sights and sounds of earthbending hadn't helped). Sokka, Katara, and Aang had all had to hold him down to prevent him from committing fiery murder in front of an entire town's worth of Earth Kingdom citizens. Otherwise, the only other time he'd fought earthbenders, at Fong's base, he'd used the Yuyan-style hand-to-hand all of the Archers were taught.

He's _burning_ with curiosity, so he taps out _Y.E.S P.L.E.A.S.E._

The smirk that crosses Toph's face is pure evil.

And she _kicks his ass._

She's surprisingly nice about it, too. She never traps him underground, never covers his face, and when she encases his hands and feet, there is no pressure until he tries to pull them out. If he taps out _Y.I.E.L.D_ , she releases him immediately. If she throws a rock at him and it impacts, it barely winds him, and never knocks him off his feet or comes near his head. Her precision and control is breathtaking to watch, especially for a master of an element where control is everything.

At first the rocks flying at him are very unsettling, but as he gets into it, it becomes really _fun_. As the sun sets, they're still going strong, and Zuko doesn't flinch anymore at the sounds of earthbending or any of the rocks that fly past him.

"We're gonna have to wrap this up soon, Sparky," Toph says, face shiny with sweat and bangs hanging lank in her face. "Snoozles is coming."

Sure enough, Sokka appears a moment or two later from behind a nearby boulder, a broad grin on his brown face. "Why am I not surprised to find you two trying to kill each other?"

"Our countries are mortal enemies, it's expected of us," Toph replies immediately with a nonchalant shrug. "Not like Sparky's got a chance in Koh's Lair of actually doing it, but I'm not one to pass up a good fight. He needs the practice."

Zuko holds up a middle finger in her direction and stomps his foot. Toph howls with laughter.

Sokka snickers. "Dare you to do that in front of Katara," he says. "Speaking of, Jerkbender, she's gonna have your hide if you screw up all her hard work."

As if reminded by Sokka's words, the half-healed burn on Zuko's back flares up in pain, and Zuko nearly staggers. Sokka catches him and loops Zuko's arm around his own neck, smirking like the cat-owl that caught the meadow vole.

"Fuck, Sparky, why did you agree to spar if you were still fucked up?" Toph demands, frowning deeply.

"Because he's a moron with no impulse control," Sokka replies immediately, and Zuko stomps on his foot hard. "Ow! For La's sake, if you want dinner you gotta leave your human crutch intact. Besides, it's not like it's not _true_."

Zuko has to concede the point, but he's still annoyed. He makes a note to get back at Sokka at a later date.

Katara rolls her eyes at the sight of him, and before he can blink he's back flat on his belly with his shirt off again. Dinner smells amazing, but at this moment he has to admit that he's a bit more interested in healing water washing the pain of his aggravated wound away.

After dinner and cleanup, Zuko finds a nice little nook with a good view of the stars and spreads out his bedroll. A few minutes later, Toph joins him, and they sit side by side.

"So," she says presently. "Prince of the Fire Nation, huh?"

Zuko sighs, and taps out _F.O.R.M.E.R.L.Y_. _B.U.T Y.E.S._

She hums, leans back on her hands. "Your sister's a bitch, by the way."

Zuko snickers silently. _I K.N.O.W._

"Was she always like that?"

Zuko shrugs. _N.O.T A.L.W.A.Y.S. N.O.T B.E.F.O.R.E B.E.N.D.I.N.G. D.A.D…_ He trails off, not sure how to explain the snarl of emotions surrounding his sister in the brief terms best suited for signal code.

"Your dad's a piece of shit, and turned her into one as well," Toph says, and Zuko can't think of a better summary than that.

_Y.E.A.H._

"Dads are generally shit, in my experience," she opines.

_Y.O.U H.A.V.E.N.'.T M.E.T T.H.E R.I.G.H.T D.A.D F.O.R Y.O.U Y.E.T_ , he replies, slowly enough that she can mouth the words as he taps them. When he's done, she frowns thoughtfully.

"Maybe, but I'm not holding my breath," she declares, and rises to her feet. "Night, Sparky, thanks for the fight. Gotta pull Twinkletoes' head out of his ass tomorrow if he wants to learn any earthbending at all."

_Y.O.U C.A.N D.O I.T_ , he taps out, smiling.

"Damn fucking right I can," she says, smiling in a snarly way. She marches off and bends up a tent around herself, and Zuko doesn't flinch at the sound.

_Good night, Toph_ , he taps.

_Good night, Zuko_ , she replies.

**Author's Note:**

> Next time: **To Be Determined**
> 
> Okay folks, this is it for at least a little while. The next part is refusing to cooperate, and I've been asked to sing Torah at Rosh Hashanah by my rabbi, which takes a lot of practice and has historically not gone well for me, so I'm going to be focusing mostly on that. Worst case scenario, you won't see me again until around the end of September (sadness). Best case scenario, I'll be able to learn my portion quickly and I'll be back in like two weeks (unlikely). Thanks so so so much for everyone's comments, kudos, and the truly GINORMOUS number of Tumblr followers! See you all in the fall!


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